Pesach Standing Drink

Pesach/Passover Standing Drink

Wishing you and your families and friends a wonderful Pesach holiday!  Here are my thoughts on my drink which I created for the seder this year:

Vehi she'amdah

The promise to our ancestors and to us STANDS.

I've been thinking about this phrase a lot recently with the standing and marching that I've been a part of (along with other cousins and friends).  I decided to look up other times when someone says "amad" in the tanakh/Bible:  

1)  when Yosef stood before his brothers in Egypt, about to reveal his true identity

2)  another time when  "amdah" is mentioned:

​ [פרק ל' פסוק ט']
וַתֵּרֶא לֵאָה כִּי עָמְדָה מִלֶּדֶת וַתִּקַּח אֶת-זִלְפָּה שִׁפְחָתָהּ וַתִּתֵּן אֹתָהּ לְיַעֲקֹב לְאִשָּׁה
when Leah took her "handmaid" Zilpah and gave her to Ya'akov as another wife, helping to continue the line of children in the family.

During the seder, I think it is important to not only discuss the story of the Exodus, but also where we came from?  Where were we before we even got to Egypt.  When we look back, we read about Avraham standing (nitzavim) before the three guests at the tent.  We read about Leah, as I mentioned earlier and Yosef standing before his brothers as the second to Pharaoh in charge of Egypt.  They were standing up for themselves, but also for others.  

So, as we are about to stand for Vehi Sheamda, I would like to think about what I stand for?  What do I march for?  What promise do I think still holds between all of us and God?  What promise do we need to make sure we keep for each other?

And as we're standing, we usually hold our second glass of wine.  I would like to add a "stand" of fruit to represent the extra sweetness that we can add when we stand together to help to make the world a bit better and continue to help to keep our promises with each other and might I add, to God.